Tristan considered it. "I'll go with you, actually."
Lucian looked at him. "You just said you weren't."
"I changed my mind. Someone has to be there to identify the body."
"He's not going to kill me."
Tristan gave a single nod. "He's not going to kill you."
"He is going to kill me."
"He is absolutely going to kill you," Tristan agreed.
Tristan leaned back against the wall, crossed his arms, and gave him the exact expression of a spectator settling into a comfortable seat at an arena. "You're going to be great in there. I believe in you. I'll be thinking of you. From here."
✦✦✦
AELINDRIS — THE FAE PALACE — THREE MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST SHIFT
Tristan abandoned ship before Lucian entered the study, the room where Atlas conducted the business of being a father when the business required a desk between them.
